The accused have been identified as Shiv Shankar Rajbhar and Pappu Haldar, both residents of Behala.

Two miscreants who were allegedly involved in a number of recent ATM thefts were arrested by the Behala police on Monday night. “Yesterday, we formed a special team to arresting the miscreants involved in ATM theft cases in the recent past. It was a joint effort by all police stations of the Behala Division,” Behala DC Meraj Khalid.

He added: “At around 3 am, a person was seen inside an ATM near Roy Bahadur Road at Behala. The shutter was half down. Our team intercepted the suspect and recovered pliers, a wrench, and screwdriver. He was trying to break open the ATM. On further interrogation, he confessed that his partner was waiting in a taxi parked outside. Both were arrested.”

The accused have been identified as Shiv Shankar Rajbhar and Pappu Haldar, both residents of Behala. According to sources, Rajbhar was the one who was inside the ATM while Haldar was waiting in a taxi nearby. Sources said that Khalid had formed the surveillance team after holding a meeting with all officers-in-charge.

The accused have confessed to committing thefts in the ATMs of Regent Park, Jadavpur and other areas, said police. They have been booked under sections 379 (theft) and 427 (mischief causing damage) of the IPC.

Recently, there have been around 6 cases of ATMs being broken. One incident was reported in Thakurpukur late Friday, where a gang allegedly looted around Rs 30,000, while Behala, Parnashree, Charu Market, Jadavpur and Regent Park have witnessed similar incidents.

Sources said that though no complaint was lodged, police suspect that the gang had stolen approximately Rs 40,000.